Bence-Jones, Mark. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 55. “(Tredennick/LGI1912) A Tudor-Gothic house of ca 1840, by John B. Keane, rather similar to Keane’s building at Castle Irvine, Co Fermanagh….Now demolished.
Camlin Castle, County Donegal, photograph by Robert French, [between ca. 1865-1914], Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
p. 55. “Tudor revival castle designed by John B. Keane in 1838 for John Tredenick incorporating an earlier house. The Gothic arched entrance gate remains. Demolished.”
David Hicks, Irish County Houses: Chronicle of Change. Collins Press, Cork, 2012. p. 224. “Another of J.B. Keane’s commissions… built for John Tredennick and was an extension to an earlier building… The Tredennick famly were of Cornish origin and established themselves in Donegal in the seventeenth century. …In 1928 the entire contents of the castle were offered for auction in a two day sale…A caretaker lived in the castle until it was sold in 1942 when a lot of the estate land was purchased by the Land Commission. In the 1940s when hydroelectric power stations were being constructed on the River Earne, the engineers calculated that Camlin would be flooded by the scheme and so it was demolished. When the water levels rose, it was found that the demolition of the castle had been totally unnecessary. Only the impressive castellated entrance gates with their large tower now remain. …
Gurteen House, Bandon, West Cork for sale Sept 2024 Hodnet Forde property services.
Gurteen House is a charming six bedroom 18th Century Georgian farmhouse on over an acre of gardens and woodlands. Despite its tranquil and private location, the property is just 1 mile from Bandon Town centre. This spacious and characterful c. 2,800 sq ft residence includes an entrance hall, farmhouse style kitchen, 3 reception rooms, utility room, laundry room, guest WC, and storeroom on the ground floor, with 5 bedrooms and family bathroom on the first floor. The residence also has the benefit of a self-contained, own door one bedroom apartment with open plan lounge and dining area, and a single bedroom with bathroom, leading to a large covered decking area. The property has been sensitively upgraded in recent years to provide all the comfort and convenience of a modern house, but while retaining its historic character, giving a C3 energy rating, which is impressive for a period property of this size. Viewing strictly by appointment only. Located 1 mile from Bandon, the neighbouring towns of Kinsale and Clonakilty are a 20 minute commute, while Cork City and airport are a 25 minute drive. Period Features include fireplaces, working shutters, cornicing, doors and joinery, Minton tiling, 17th Century stone bread oven, and a new Rayburn solid fuel range. Services: Private Water, septic tank, dual heating – OFCH and solid fuel.
Detached four-bay two-storey house, built c.1840, having single-storey extension to side (south-west) elevation and adjoining three-bay two-storey house extension to side (north-east) elevation, in turn having a recent extension to north-east elevation. Original house having pitched slate roof with rendered chimneystacks and cast-iron rainwater goods. Rendered walls with sill band to first floor. Square-headed window openings with tooled limestone sills and one-over-one pane timber sliding sash windows. Round-headed door opening with moulded render surround, spooked fanlight to timber panelled door opening to dressed limestone steps. House extension comprises three-bay two-storey house with full-height canted bay to front (south-east) elevation. Pitched artificial slate roof with cut limestone chimneystacks and uPVC rainwater goods. Cut Bath limestone walls having carved decorative string course with carved gargoyles to first floor and Cork marble sill course to ground floor. Square-headed window openings with slanted sills, replacement one-over-one pane timber sliding sash windows. Shouldered square-headed door opening below gable-fronted timber canopy, with Cork marble block-and-start surround, cut Bath limestone lintel with flanking carved head corbels, cut limestone steps and rendered retaining walls with timber columns supporting canopy. Replacement timber battened door. Ruinous two-storey coach house to north-east of site. Roof now missing, rubble stone walls, square-headed openings and segmental-headed carriage arch having red brick voussoirs.
Appraisal
The original house follows the typical symmetrical design lines of plain façade and evenly spaced windows with central door case. The addition was added by the well know Cork architect, Hill, for the daughter of the owners, designed in the then fashionable Gothic Revival style. The flamboyant style contrasts directly with the original house with the two sitting curiously awkwardly beside each other. The later addition uses imported Bath limestone, skilfully carved and finished to achieved maximum effect in the gargoyles and door surround. The Cork marble from Little Island contrasts with the limestone, adding textural variation. Now in use as two separate houses, they make an important contribution to the architectural heritage, displaying architectural styles from both halves of the nineteenth centaury.
Bence-Jones, Mark. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 87. “[Gillman/IFR] A square two storey house of ca. 1830. Three bay front, 4 bay side, eaved roof.”
Detached double-pile three-bay two-storey house, built c.1840, having porch to front (east) and two-storey extension to side (south). U-plan hipped slate roof with rendered chimneystacks and replacement uPVC rainwater goods. Rendered walls with lined-and-ruled rendered walls to porch. Diminishing square-headed window openings with limestone sills, having six-over-six pane timber sliding sash windows to first floor and nine-over-six pane timber sliding sash windows to ground floor. Set of four fixed two-pane timber framed windows to porch. Square-headed door opening to side (south) elevation of porch having replacement glazed timber door. Numerous derelict and restored two-storey outbuildings to rear arranged around courtyard. Pitched slate and corrugated-iron roofs to western group having rubble stone walls, square-headed window openings and elliptical arch-headed carriageways. Pitched slate roof to former barn having rubble stone walls, square-headed window openings with timber frames. Segmental-headed carriageway openings to ground floor with roughly dressed limestone voussoirs. Flight of stone steps to western elevation of former barn. Remains of red brick walled garden to south-east. Square-profile rendered gate piers to north-east. Set within own grounds.
Appraisal
The classical form and fenestration of this middle-sized house is typical of its time. The fine timber sliding sash windows add much to its character, while the extensive ranges of outbuildings add context to its setting.
At the time of Griffith’s Valuation, Herbert Gillman was leasing a property valued at £14 from Edward Murphy. This house was built after the publication of the 1st edition Ordnance Survey map. The Irish Tourist Association survey refers to “Clontead” as the former residence of the historian, Herbert Webb Gillman,(1832-1898). It is still extant and seems to have become known as Clontead More House.
country house in the townland of Clontead More, situated north-east of Coachford village, built around 1840. Once the residence of the Herbert Gillman The property was constructed after 1840. It is not depicted on the 1842 surveyed OS map, which was also used during the mid-nineteenth century Primary Valuation of Ireland (Griffith’s Valuation). The Connacht and Munster Landed Estates Database states that it was ‘built after the publication of the first edition Ordnance Survey map’., and the 1901 surveyed OS map depicts the property, but does not name it. The Primary Valuation of Ireland (Griffith’s Valuation) records Herbert Gillman as occupying c. 86 acres, consisting of a ‘house, offices and land’. The buildings were valued at c. £14, the land at c. £50, and the immediate lessor was Edward Murphy. Gillman is interred in the chancel of Magourney Church, Coachford. The Irish Tourist Association survey of 1944 refers to the property as ‘Clontead House, Peake’ and the former residence of Herbert Webb Gillman. He is described as having been a Barrister-at-law, member of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Council member of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society (CHAS) and ‘specialised in castles around the countryside’. Gillman was one of the early members of CHAS and is interred in the apse of Magourney Church. Today, Clontead More House remains a private residence, and is not accessible to the public.
Bence-Jones, Mark. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 27. “(Murphy/IFR) A two storey C19 house in the late-Georgian manner.”
Detached four-bay two-storey country house, built c. 1840, with breakfront to front (west) elevation, conservatory to south elevation, and single-storey lean-to block to rear. Hipped slate roof with overhanging eaves, rendered chimneystacks. Rendered walls. Camber-headed openings with nine-over-six, six-over-six and one-over-one pane timber sliding sash windows. Round-headed opening to rear with six-over-six pane timber sliding sash window and spoked fanlight. Fixed windows to conservatory. Gabled double-height outbuilding to north east with pitched slate roof, rendered walls and square-headed opening. Cast-iron circular-profile piers to south-west with wrought-iron double-leaf gates. Appraisal
Large and imposing form makes a very significant and highly visible features within extensive landscape. Steep hipped roof and breakfront add to imposing appearance and regularity of façade is carried through in symmetry of openings and the retention of timber sash windows to most front façade. Piers and gate to entrance enhance site.
For Sale:
€895,000
ACCOMMODATION
Ground Floor
Entrance Conservatory 15’0″ x 10’0″
Tiled. PVC windows and doors on block lower level.
Traditional wooden Hall door to:
Entrance Hallway 11’0″ x 12’6″
Tiled. Half-glazed door to Inner Hallway.
Drawing Room 18’6″ x 12’9″
Carpeted. Open marble fireplace.
Inner Hallway
Carpeted. Carpeted staircase and wooden Balustrade. Safe under stairs. Hanging cupboard.
Dining Room 14’0″ x 17’3″
Carpeted. Dark marble fireplace.
Study 12’9″ x 12’9″
Carpeted. Solid fuel fireplace with mahogany timber surround.
Downstairs WC
Tiled. Toilet and wash hand basin.
Shower Room
Tiled.
Half-glazed door to:
Kitchen 11’6″ x 17’3″
Tiled floor. Electric cooker. Extractor. Stainless steel sink.
Larger Utility Room 10’3″ x 14’6″
Tiled. Fully fitted. Door out to:
Back Yard
With outside WC, Gardeners Store & Boiler House.
Back Office 14’3″ x 23’9″
Carpeted. Two doors out.
First Floor
Landing
Carpeted.
Bedroom 1 19’0″ x 12’9″
Double Bedroom. Carpeted. Original working fireplace with mantlepiece.
WC
Toilet and wash hand basin.
Bedroom 2 11’3″ x 13’0″
Double Bedroom. Carpeted. Original working fireplace with mantlepiece.
Bedroom 3 (Master) 14’0″ x 17’3″
Double Bedroom. Carpeted. Original working fireplace with mantlepiece.
Bathroom
Tiled. Toilet, wash hand basin and bath with shower. Hot Press.
Bedroom 4 12’9″ x 12’9″
Double Bedroom. Carpeted. Built-in cupboard. Original working fireplace with mantlepiece.
Bedroom 5 Sewing Room 11’3″ x 12’9″
Carpeted. Original working fireplace with mantlepiece.
OUTSIDE
There are a number of outbuildings, which include a two-storey Coach House and single-storey Garage with separate entrance and a Fuel House. There is also an all-weather, enclosed Tennis Court.
GENERAL
The property, which is on c. 6 acres, is located on the main road to Cobh between Carrigaloe and Rushbrook. It overlooks the River Lee ands pleasant rural views. The property is a two-storey, Georgian-style Residence constructed in the early Victorian period.
The site lends itself to possible further development potential, as there are two access driveways.
The main Residence is of traditional construction with masonry and brick walls (plastered) and natural slate roof.
The property is located between the Rushbrook and Carrigaloe stations and located near to the cross river ferry, which goes from Carrigaloe to Passage/Monkstown.
Bence-Jones, Mark. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988, Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 175. “An early C19 Tudor -Gothic house with gables, mullioned windows, a porte-cochere and tall octagonal and cylindrical chimneys. At the back is a pedimented house of ca 1800 facing the yard. Now owned by a religious order.”
Detached Tudor Revival U-plan four-bay two-storey house, built c.1845, having advanced gabled end bays, cut-stone porte-cochere to entrance in southern bay, end bays extend back as returns with lower six-bay wing to north-east. Now in use as education centre. Pitched slate roof with roll-top clay ridge tiles, cut-stone corbel course to verges, eaves broken by first floor windows. Slender elongated and castellated finials to gables at apex and on kneelers, oversailing detail to side gables with coved limestone verges. Ashlar limestone chimneystacks to ridges having triple octagonal-profile shafts on common plinth, cast-iron and uPVC rainwater goods. Ruled-and-lined rendered walls, roughcast rendered to rear, on raised plinth with tooled limestone sill course to first floor. Three-bay ashlar limestone port-cochere with castellated octagonal-profile clasping corner piers, carved parapet with sandstone crest, and Tudor-arch openings. Timber and uPVC casement windows, canted oriel window to first floor gable with panelled apron and parapet. Stained glass windows flanking doorcase and to mullioned stair window in rear gable with pointed lights, all having tooled limestone surrounds, hood mouldings, and sills. Tooled limestone doorcase with Doric pilasters and studded timber panelled double doors with corresponding Tudor arch panels over. Recent timber boarded doors to wings with dressed limestone surrounds, lintels, and keystones. Interior having heavily moulded cantilever stair, Tudor arch openings, and extensive vaulted plasterwork. Screen wall extends to north having Tudor-style gabled archway to side yard. Pitched slate outbuildings with recent additions forming two courtyards to north, with gabled breakfronts having cruciform finial, altered glazed coach house arches, half-dormer windows with timber bargeboards, and red brick and limestone surrounds. Courtyard complex entered through double-height Tudor archway of ashlar limestone, with voussoirs, pediment and hexagonal-profile finial. Heavily altered gate lodge to east with recent stone gate piers.
A significant and sprawling Tudor Revival structure, Kilnacrott House was built for Pierce Morton, on land granted to Robert Morton during the Cromwellian confiscations. It was used as a school from 1930 by the Holy Trinity Priory. The structure is replete with Tudor Revival detail, including arches, studded doors, and mullioned and oriel windows. The impressive port-cochere is perhaps the most dominant feature, creating a sense of drama and anticipation to the approach. Its sandstone crest bears the arms of its former inhabitants. Remarkably intact to the interior, this building and its well-executed and refined outbuildings form a large complex that is an interesting addition to the county’s architectural heritage.
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 12. “A Victorian Baronial house.. built by Sir Richard Orpen on the site of an earlier house which in turn had replaced an old MacCarthy stronghold. Burnt 1921.”
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
Ardtully House was constructed in 1847 by Sir Richard Orpen, a Dublin based solicitor whose family had connections to the area. Built on the site of the old Ardtully castle which was finally destroyed by Cromwell during the civil wars, only ruins remain as it was itself burned down in 1921.
In Ireland few painters are better known or more admired than Sir William Orpen (1878-1931), examples of whose work today fetch some of the highest prices for a picture at auction. Yet Orpen’s background is relatively little studied, and his links with County Kerry are accordingly overlooked. Like many families, the Orpens were inclined to give themselves a more distinguished pedigree that was actually the case. So in Burke’s Landed Gentry of 1847 it is claimed that ‘The family of Orpen is of remote antiquity, and is stated to trace its descent from Erpen, second son of Varnacker (maire of the palace to Clothaire I), who was the son of Meroveus, and grandson of Theodorick, son of Clovis, King of France.’ This places their origins back in the sixth century, so that by the time William, Duke of Normandy won the Battle of Hastings in 1066, he was of course accompanied by a knight called Robert d’Erpen who thereafter settled at Erpingham in Norfolk. According to this version of events, the family turns up in Ireland in the second half of the 17th century already long established as members of the landed gentry on the other side of the Irish Sea. Such would have been the story of his forebears likely known by William Orpen. However the year before his death a cousin, the historian Goddard Henry Orpen produced an alternative, and somewhat less distinguished narrative. From this it would appear that the first Orpen to come to Ireland, a descendant of humble English yeomen, did so some time in the 1650s/60s when he acquired land around the area of Killorglin, County Kerry and that by the mid-1670s his son, Richard Orpen was employed as a land agent by the region’s greatest landowner, Sir William Petty. All of which is not quite so splendid as the lineage proposed by Burke but, as Goddard Henry Orpen wrote, ‘it is the truth I seek and not a (faked) illustrious ancestry and, after all, is it not better to rise than to fall?’
So, the earliest Orpens to settle in Kerry did so in the second half of the 17th century and prospered thanks to their association with the Pettys, later Petty-Fitzmaurices and ultimately Marquesses of Lansdowne. As a result they were able to acquire their own substantial landholdings, including the area around Ardtully in South Kerry. Until the 17th century this property was under the control of the MacFineens, a branch of the powerful MacCarthy clan but according to the Books of Survey and Distribution (compiled c.1650-80) during the course of the Confederate Wars, Colonel Donough MacFineen forfeited Ardtully, on which then stood ‘two good slate houses, a corn-mill, a castle, malthouse, barn, and tuck mill, likewise there are iron-mines and a silver mine in the quarter of Ardtully.’ The lands here were granted by the crown to one John Dillon but subsequently acquired on a long lease by the descendants of the original Richard Orpen: following a marriage between the latter’s grandson and Anna Townsend of Bridgemount, County Cork in 1766 the family’s name became Orpen Townsend. Ultimately in the first half of the 19th century the Ardtully estate was first leased and then purchased through the Encumbered Estates Court by a cousin of Richard Orpen Townsend: this was the successful solicitor Richard John Theodore Orpen. Founder of a legal practice still in existence today (as Orpen Franks) he would act as President of the Law Society from 1860 until his death sixteen years later. Knighted in 1866, he was the grandfather of the artist William Orpen and builder of a house still just extant at Ardtully.
Sir Richard John Theodore Orpen was clearly very proud of his family, if somewhat deluded about its pedigree, and assembled whatever information he could about his ancestors. He also built up a considerable land holding in County Kerry, amounting to over 12,000 acres by the time of his death. A fine residence in the centre of this property was required, and duly built at Ardtully in 1847. Its architect unknown, the house is customarily summarised as being in the Scottish Baronial style but this seems more a flag of convenience than an accurate description. In truth Ardtully looks to have been a typically Victorian grab-bag of architectural elements, its most prominent feature being a castellated round tower and turret on the south-east corner. Looking towards the river Roughty, the entrance front features a porch topped by the Orpen coat of arms (now damaged), another attempt by Sir Richard to demonstrate his lineage. Inside the house looks to have contained the usual collection of reception and bedrooms ranged over two storeys, the roofline marked by a succession of stepped gables and dormers. A substantial range of service outbuildings lay to the north. A handsome coloured illustration of Ardtully appeared in County Seats of The Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland (published 1870): conveniently the author of this six-volume work was Sir Richard’s nephew, the Rev. Francis Orpen Morris. The estate was eventually inherited by another Anglican clergyman, Sir Richard’s second son, the Rev. Raymond Orpen, Bishop of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe. Uncle of the painter Sir William Orpen, he retired from office in 1921 and the same year Ardtully was burnt by the IRA. It has remained a ruin ever since, the link with one of this country’s greatest artists forgotten.
Ardtully House lies in a field west of the village of Kilgarvan, in County Kerry in Ireland.
According to tradition the first building at this site was a 13-th century monastery which was replaced, using its stones, by a castle of the McFineen McCarthys. This castle was destroyed in the mid-17th century during Cromwell’s conquest. Later the Orpen family buit a mansion house here, within the remains of the old castle.
In 1847, Sir Richard Orpen Townsend demolished the earlier house and the remains of the castle, replacing it with a fine 5-bay 2-storey Scottish-Baronial style house of which we see the remains today. It had 27 rooms, a circular 3-storey battlemented corner tower on the southeast corner and a 3-storey corbelled circular turret on the east corner.
In 1921, during the Irish War of Independence, Ardtully House was burned down by the IRA. It was never rebuilt.
Ardtully House can freely be visited. The ruin itself can not be entered due to the risk of falling stones. Just north of it are the remains of a walled garden. A very nice ruin.
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses.[originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978; Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.]
p. 1. “(Singleton/LG1912; Lindsay, sub Crawford, E/PB). An almost Italianate house built 1840 for H.C. Singleton; 2 storey and faced with ashlar. Three bay entrance front, projecting central bay with pedminent and Wyatt windown about Grecian Doric portico; three bay side with slightly projecting end by. Office wing set back, fronted by graceful conservatory with curving ends and roof. Inner hall ceiling supported on carved wood brackets; upstairs landing screened from central top-lit space by arcade supported on Tuscan columns. Opened as a hotel ca. 1950 by its then owner, Mr D.E.T. Lindsay; it has since been sold, but is still run as a hotel.”
Record of Protected Structures:
Aclare House, aclare House Demesne.
A good example of the Greek Classical revival, c.1830.
Frontispiece of three bays, two-storeys, with single bay
pedimented breakfront, Wyatt window in the centre,
tetrastyle doric porch. Stone outbuildings to rear of house.
A good example of the Greek Classical revival, c.1830. Frontispiece of three bays, two-storeys, with single bay pedimented breakfront, Wyatt window in the centre, tetrastyle doric porch. Stone outbuildings to rear of house. Walled Garden.
Also known as Athclare lodge the house was possibly constructed about 1800. The two storey over basement house is located near Drumconrath. 1835 it was the property of H.C. Singleton. Aclare Cottage, the residence of Mr. G. Moore Adams, was in the north-east of the townland. The Adams family had connections to Aclare from the early 1700s. The demsne contained 36.5 acres. The house was described as a two storey, slated modern house in good repair. It seems to have been a u shaped house. George Adams held the house and demesne in the 1850s. John William McKeever and his family occupied Aclare Cottage in 1911. The original windows have been replaced. Today there are farm buildings around the house.
Aclare House, Drumconrath, was constructed for Henry Corbet Singleton in 1840. A previous house on the site was described in 1836 as being a two storey slated house in good repair. A well planted demesne of 97 ½ acres surrounded the house.
Located beside the river Dee the townland takes its name from a ford over the river possibly at the site of the crossing called the Han bridge. The house is a good example of classical revival. Casey and Rowan describe the house as faced with Scottish sandstone. The house has a central top-lit stair hall. Held by the Lord of Slane in 1640 the property became part of the estate of the Corbet family. The large reception rooms contain neoclassical chimney pieces. The ballroom leads to the orangerie which overlooks the parkland of the estate. There are substantial stables and outbuildings to the rear of the house and a walled garden. The river Dee winds its way though the parklands and powered a turbine which provided electricity for the house.
The Corbets of Aclare were descended from Very Rev. Francis Corbet DD, Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, and the family had burial rights at the cathedral. The owner of Aclare, Francis Corbet, added the name Singleton to his surname by royal licence in 1820 when he inherited the Meath estates of his uncle, Henry Singleton. The eldest son, Henry Corbet Singleton, born in 1806 inherited the property. Henry was a magistrate and deputy lieutenant of the County Meath. [see https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/singleton-francis-corbet-1597 ]
Robert Corbet Singleton, the second son of Francis Corbet, established St Columba’s College, Rathfarnham, in 1843 and St Peter’s College, Radley at Oxford in 1847. As its first warden he inaugurated a very strict and rigorous system of religious discipline. In 1868 he co-edited, The Anglican Hymn-Book, which contained nearly thirty original hymns by him, most notably ‘With gladsome feet we press.’
Francis Corbet Singleton was the third son of Francis Corbet Singleton. Joining the Royal Navy he emigrated to Adelaide, South Australia, where he became Clerk of the Legislative Council. He established a silver mine in South Australia which he named Aclare. This may not be accurate as there was a second Francis Corbet Singleton, who was a relative of the family living at the same time.
Loftus Corbet Singleton, the fourth son, joined the army and became a major. He died in 1881 aged 38 from wounds received at Majuba Hill, Natal, South Africa while fighting the Boers.
Henry Corbet’s son, also Henry Corbet, was born in 1837 and served as a major in the 30th Foot before assuming his role as landlord of 5,857 acres in County Meath in 1872 on the death of his father. When he died in 1890 the estate passed to his brother, Rear Admiral Uvedale Corbet Singleton, who died in 1910. His only child monica Virginia, married and English cousin in 1923. The estate then passed to the Land Commission in the late 1920s or early 1930s. The contents of the house were sold in 1930. Each summer the Singletons gave a party at Aclare for the school children from Drumconrath, which was followed by a football match between the local men.
The house and 160 acres were sold by the Land Commission in 1939. In the 1940s the house was owned by Mr. Phillips. The house was opened as a hotel about 1950 by its then owner Mr. D.E.T. Lindsay and it remained operating as a hotel in the following decades.
Another branch of the Singletons were established at Mell, Drogheda and a number of these were members of parliament in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This family held nearly nine thousand acres in Cavan, Louth, Meath and England. Another Singleton family held over nine thousand acres mainly in Monaghan and Fermanagh.
Detached Country House – Tudor Revival house with half-dormer attic, c. 1840, designed by Daniel Robertson. Part re-roofed and re-fenestrated, c. 1970. Interior retains some original features including granite staircase.
Detached four-bay two-storey Tudor Revival house with half-dormer attic, c. 1840, on an asymmetrical plan with granite ashlar façade having carved stone dressings including mullioned bay and oriel windows and gables. Designed by Daniel Robertson. Part reroofed and refenestrated, c. 1970. Interior retains some original features including granite staircase.
Mount Leinster Lodge, Raheenkyle, Co Carlow. See above.
Record of Protected Structures:
Mount Leinster Lodge,
Borris
Townland: Raheenkyle
A large, tudor-gothic revival country house designed by Daniel Robertson circa 1845. The house has an asymmetrical plan with walls of granite ashlar, and very fine carved dressings including mullioned windows, an oriel window on the front gable, oriel type dormers. The house stands on a buttressed platform set against the hillside. The house has been partially re-roofed and altered including the entrance porch.
Detached four-bay two-storey Tudor Revival house with half-dormer attic, c. 1840, on an asymmetrical plan with granite ashlar façade having carved stone dressings including mullioned bay and oriel windows and gables.
Loughgall Manor, Co Armagh, photograph by Robert French, (between ca. 1865-1914), Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 193. “(Cope/LGI1912) A two storey, mildly Tudor-Revival house of ca 1840, with many gables, some of them with bargeboards. Windows with simple wooden mullions; hood-mouldings over ground floor windows of main block. Lower service wing at one side, also many gables, with pointed windows in upper storeys.”
Loughgall Manor, Co Armagh, photograph by Robert French, (between ca. 1865-1914), Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.Loughgall Manor, Co Armagh, photograph by Robert French, (between ca. 1865-1914), Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.
THE COPES WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY ARMAGH, WITH 9,367 ACRES
ANTHONY COPE, of Portadown, County Armagh, younger brother of Walter Cope, of Drumilly, and grandson of Sir Anthony Cope, 1st Baronet, of Hanwell, wedded Jane, daughter of the Rt Rev Thomas Moigne, Lord Bishop of Kilmore and Ardagh, by whom he had an only son,
THE VERY REV ANTHONY COPE (1639-1705), Dean of Elphin, who wedded his second cousin, Elizabeth, daughter and eventual heiress of Henry Cope, of Loughgall, and granddaughter of Anthony Cope, of Armagh, who was second son of Sir Anthony Cope, 1st Baronet, of Bramshill.
The Dean left, with other issue, a son and heir,
ROBERT COPE (1679-1753), of Loughgall, MP for Armagh County, 1713-14 and 1727-53, who espoused firstly, in 1701, Letitia, daughter of Arthur Brownlow, of Lurgan, who dsp; and secondly, in 1707, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Fownes Bt, of Woodstock, by whom he had, with other issue,
ARTHUR COPE, of Loughgall, wedded, in 1761, Ellen Osborne, and had issue,
ROBERT CAMDEN, his heir;
Kendrick, lieutenant-colonel, died unmarried 1827;
Emma; Elizabeth;
Mary, m Col R Doolan, and had 2 sons: RWC Doolan (cope); KH Doolan.
The elder son,
ROBERT CAMDEN COPE (c1771-1818), of Loughgall, MP for County Armagh, 1801-2, Lieutenant-Colonel, Armagh Militia, married Mary, daughter of Samuel Elliott, Governor of Antigua, and had an only son,
ARTHUR COPE (1814-44), of Loughgall; who dsp, and bequeathed his estates to his cousin,
ROBERT WRIGHT COPE DOOLAN JP DL (1810-58), of Loughgall Manor, who assumed the surname and additional arms of COPE in 1844.
He espoused, in 1848, Cecilia Philippa, daughter of Captain Shawe Taylor, of County Galway, and had issue,
FRANCIS ROBERT, DL (1853-) his heir; Albinia Elizabeth; Emma Sophia; Helen Gertrude.
*****
In 1610, the Plantation of Ulster came into effect under the auspices of JAMES I.
The manors of Loughgall and Carrowbrack in County Armagh were granted to Lord Saye and Sele.
In 1611 he sold these lands to Sir Anthony Cope Bt, of which 3,000 acres were represented by the manor of Loughgall.
The manor of Loughgall was divided between two branches of the Cope family, being known as The Manor House and Drummilly.
THE MANOR, LOUGHGALL, County Armagh, is a two-storey, mildly Tudor-Revival house of ca 1840 with numerous gables, some of which have barge-boards.
The windows have simple wooden mullions; and there are also hood-mouldings over ground-floor windows of the main block.
A lower service wing is at one side, gabled, with pointed windows in the upper storey.
The gabled entrance porch, in Gothic-Revival style, looks like a work of the 1850-70s and may be a later addition.
While the tree-lined avenue leading from the main street of the village was indicated on a map of 1834, the gateway and lodges, and the main house were not; nor was the house referred to by Lewis in 1837.
The main gates were manufactured in 1842, according to their inscription, which accords with that of the manor-house, although there is no architectural similarity between the gateway and lodges and the main house.
The Yew Walk, to the north of the Manor House, also seemsto be indicated on a map of 1835.
One branch of the family subsequently lived in Drumilly House, situated to the east of the lough, which was demolished in 1965, while the other lived in the Manor House.
The manor-house was purchased from Field-Marshal Sir Gerald Templer, a relation of the original owners, by the Ministry of Agriculture in 1947.
The Ministry began general farming operations in 1949, and in 1951 established a horticultural centre on the estate.
In 1952, the Northern Ireland Plant Breeding Station, which had been founded by the Northern Ireland Government in 1922, was transferred to Loughgall.
In 1987, the Horticultural Centre and Plant Breeding Station were amalgamated to form the Northern Ireland Horticultural and Plant Breeding Station; and in 1995 the station became part of the NI Department of Agriculture’sApplied Plant Science Division.
*****
THE VILLAGE of Loughgall developed slowly under the benign guidance of the Cope family, assuming a distinctly English appearance.
During the 18th and early part of the 19th century, a number of houses were built in the elegant Georgian style of architecture.
The two Cope families, of Loughgall Manor and Drumillyrespectively, did not take a very active part in politics; however, as residential landlords, they pursued a policy of agricultural development on their own estates and greatly encouraged the improvement and fertility of their tenants’ farms.
Apple-growing over the past two centuries has become a major factor in the economic development of County Armagh, with Loughgall at the heart of this important industry.
To this day there is no public house in Loughgall.
The Copes, at some stage in the past, actively discouraged the sale and consumption of alcohol by buying several public houses in the village and closing them down.
In their place they established a coffee-house and reading-room.
The Cope Baronets are now extinct in the male line.
The last generation of both the Loughgall Manor and Drumilly families had daughters only.
Of the Manor House family, a Miss Cope married a clergyman, the Rev Canon Sowter; while Ralph Cope, of Drumilly, had two daughters, one of whom, Diana, married Robin Cowdy of the local Greenhall linen bleaching family at Summer Island.
Both estates remain intact and have not been developed for housing or industry; they form part of Loughgall Country Park.
With considerable areas of mature woodland interspersed with orchards and cultivated fields, this area must surely be one of the most pleasant stretches of countryside in County Armagh.
Loughgall, County Armagh is an exceptionally handsome and well-preserved village, laid out in the 18th century by the Cope family, who were resident landlords. It comprises one long street lined on either side with residences other than at one point where an extraordinary set of gates and gate houses announce entry to the Cope estate. The family had come to this part of the country in 1611, after land here was either granted by the crown or purchased by Sir Anthony Cope of Oxfordshire. He passed the property onto one of his younger sons, also called Anthony but the latter then sold part of the estate called Drumilly to a brother, Richard Cope, so that there were two branches of the same family living adjacent to each other. Drumilly was an exceptionally long house, its facade running to 228 feet, and comprised a central, two storey-over-basement block linked to similarly scaled pavilions by lower, six-bay wings; when Maria Edgeworth visited in 1844, she thought it ‘one of the most beautiful places I think I ever saw.’ Not long afterwards, a vast conservatory with curved front was added to the entrance. In the middle of the last century, the house and land came into the ownership of the Ministry of Agriculture and Drumilly was used as a grain store, with the result that it fell into disrepair. A contents auction was held in 1960 and six years later, the building was demolished; the Belfast MP Roy Bradford described this as ‘a Philistine Act of the most heinous irresponsibility embarking on a reckless course of artistic nihilism.’ Today nothing remains of the place, meaning only Loughgall survives to represent the former presence of the Copes in the area. …
LOUGHGALL MANOR HOUSE, County Armagh (AP ARMAGH, BANBRIDGE & CRAIGAVON 03) A/025 REGISTERED GRADE A The present Tudor-Revival county house (Listed HB 15/2/16) was built in 1874 on high ground above Lough Gall (35acres/14ha), its associated demesne (registered area 264acres/107ha) is essentially 18th-century in layout with 17th-century origins. The park lies on the east side of the village of the same name, 6.35 miles (10.2km) west of Portadown and is approached down an impressive lime avenue that leads up hill to the house, where there has been a house since around 1610 when Sir Anthony Cope (1548-1614) of Oxfordshire acquired through purchase these lands and built for his sons, Arthur and Walter, a ‘bawn of stone and lyme, a hundred and eighty foot square, and fourteen feet high, with four flankers and in three of them…very good lodgings…three storeys high…’. At some point before the 1650s the demesne had been split between Arthur and Walter Cope family, with Drumilly house (now lost) being established as Water’s branch of the family on the west side of the lake. The Loughgall Manor house, probably destroyed in the 1641 Rebellion, was evidently enlarged and re-built on several occasions, but unfortunately there is very poor documentation for the Copes in the 17th and 18th centuries. In the late 17th century the property belonged to the Rev. Anthony Cope (1639-1705), but as the Dean of Elphin he was most likely not resident very much; his eldest son Robert Cope (1679-1753) was a resident; furthermore, his mother was an heiress and he himself married well twice in the first decade of the century. Consequently, we can be reasonably certain that the formal landscape around the house was created by him in the first two decades of the 18th-century. This included the lime avenue, which extends with north-west south-east axis from the village to the
house site, 1295ft (395m). At right angles to this was a an another avenue of yew trees, extending 855ft (260m) north-east south-west to the old Portadown-road and possibly aligned on the side of the house (this is not clear). The yew avenue ceased to be an approach in the early 19th century, but still exists as a walk and comprises three ranks of trees each side. It is now known as ”Dean Swift’s Walk’, this being reflection on the fact that the famous dean stayed with Robert Cope, initially for a brief in 1717 and then for a month in 1722. At the time Robert was an anti-Whig, having served as MP in the reign of Anne but put under arrest by Parliament in 1715 after her death, where Swift visited him. It was said that Cope at Loughgall ‘entertained that covetous lampooning dean much better than he deserved’. The house he would have stayed in seems from the Rocque’s County Armagh map of 1760 to have been an L-shaped block standing about 65-70ft (20m) further downslope closer to the junction between the two avenues. Rocque’s map also shows that the main line avenue (not clearly shown) was extended on the same axis to the south-east of the house for around 500m. Such a layout was entirely typical of the period; the surrounding demesne would have been geometrically divided up with tree-lined boundaries and around the house would have been a network of enclosures, walled or hedged, containing gardens and yards. Following Robert Cope’s death in 1753, the property was inherited by his son Arthur (d.1795) who was responsible for transforming Loughgall into a landscape park; the date is unknown but probably dates to the late 1760s or 1770s. It involved planting narrow shelter belts along the outside of the park to the Lissheffield-road and to the demesne wall west of a small stream from the lake that then separated Drumilly which belonged to the other branch of the Copes. Six small irregular woodland blocks were planted in the west sector of the park and a circuit drive; isolated trees were probably added later in the century. As an attraction on the drive a stone hermitage (Listed HB 15/22/027) was constructed on the west side of one of the woodland clumps close to the Drumilly boundary (but it was never part of Drumilly); it comprises a rubble structure built in characteristic rustic or grotesque manner into the side of a mound with a narrow arch entrance leading into a short passage (width 2ft 7in/79cm) that led in a roughly circular chamber (10ft/3m diameter) with a little window on one side; (frames were still in situ in the 1980s), a small fireplace facing the passage, which looks like a later insertion, and a domed brick roof with hexagonal opening and earth covering the dome; the structure a typical of the 1760s and 1770s era and a rare survival in Ulster. Another feature from this phase of the park is the ice house (Listed HB 15/02/016C) which stood concealed in the park under a mound on the edge of another woodland block north-west of the house; it has a brick and rubble vaulted oblong chamber with short vaulted brick-lined passage with eastern facing rubble stone segmental arched opening. The location of the original kitchen garden for the Loughgall Manor in the later- 18th century is not yet established; it may be added that the park in the adjoining demesne of Drumilly, port of which is now part of Loughgall Manor, was laid out in much the same time, possibly with same landscape designer. He carefully planted the edge of the lake so that tree screens allowed views across the water from Drumilly House and its approach drives towards the …
Castle Dillon, County Armagh, photograph by Robert French, (between ca. 1865-1914), Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 66. “(Molyneux, of Castle Dillon/ PB1940) A large and austere mansion of 1845 by William Murray; built for Sir George Molyneux, 6th Bt, to replace a rather low and plain mid-C18 winged house, which had itself replaced the second of two earlier houses again. Two storey nine bay centre block with single-storey three bay wings; the entrance front, and the garden front facing the lake, being similar and without any ornament at all, except for a simple pillared porch on the entrance front. A straightforward and conservative plan; a large hall with a screen of columns dividing it from a wide central corridor running the full length of the house, and having a curved stair at one end; a saloon flaked by dining room and drawing room in the garden front. A library and morning room on either side of the hall; additional living-rooms in one wing, offices in the other, which in fact consist of two shallow ranges with a yard between them. Fine pedimented C18 stables by Thomas Cooley. Fine entrance gates of 1760, described as “the most costly park gates perhaps at that time in the three kingdoms,” erected by Sir Capel Molyneux, 3rd Bt, MP, who also built an obelisk near the park to commemorate the winning of independence by the Irish Parliament 1782. Castle Dillon was sold ca 1926. It is now a hospital.”
HE MOLYNEUX BARONETS OWNED 6,009 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY ARMAGH
This is a junior branch of the family of MOLYNEUX, Earls of Sefton, springing immediately, it is supposed, from Sir Thomas Molyneux, second son of Sir William Molyneux, of Sefton, a celebrated warrior under the Black Prince; who added to his arms, in a distinction, the fleur-de-lis in the dexter chief still borne by the family.
Sir Thomas commanded the forces of Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland, but was defeated and slain by the combined and insurgent lords at Radcot Bridge, near Faringdon, formerly in Berkshire, in 1388.
The genealogy, however, and the records of this branch of the Molyneux family, which resided at Calais, France, being destroyed during the sacking of that town by the Duke of Guise in 1588, a chasm, of necessity, occurs in the pedigree.
SIR THOMAS MOLYNEUX(1531-97), who was born at Calais, falling into the hands of the enemy on the capture of that place, above alluded to, was ransomed for 500 crowns.
He came to England in 1568, and was sent to Ireland in 1576 by ELIZABETH I, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he obtained, with extensive grants of land from Her Majesty, a lease for twenty-one years of the exports and imports of the city of Dublin (wines excepted) for the annual rent of £183.
This gentleman married Catherine, daughter of Ludowick Stabeort, Governor of Bruges, and and issue,
Samuel, MP for Mallow; died unmarried; DANIEL, successor to his brother; Katherine, m Sir R Newcomen Bt and had 21 children; Margaret.
Sir Thomas was succeeded by his eldest surviving son,
DANIEL MOLYNEUX (1568-1632), of Newlands, County Dublin, MP for Strabane, 1613-15, who was appointed, in 1586, Ulster king-of-arms, and his celebrated collection of Irish family history, now amongst the manuscripts of Trinity College Dublin, prove him to have been an accurate and very learned antiquary.
He wedded Jane, daughter of Sir William Ussher, Clerk of the Privy Council, and had five sons and three daughters.
Mr Molyneux was succeeded by his third, but eldest surviving son,
SAMUEL MOLYNEUX (1616-93), of Castle Dillon, County Armagh, Chief Engineer of Ireland, who espoused Anne, daughter and heir of William Dowdall, of Mounttown, County Meath.
Castle Dillon, County Armagh
My Molyneux was succeeded by his eldest son,
WILLIAM MOLYNEUX (1656-98), MP for Trinity College, Dublin, 1692-8, author of the celebrated “Case of Ireland”, who married Lucy, daughter of Sir William Domvile Bt, Attorney-General of Ireland, and was succeeded at his decease by his eldest son,
THE RT HON SAMUEL MOLYNEUX (1689-1728), MP for Trinity College, Dublin, 1727-8, Lord of the Admiralty, Secretary to GEORGE II when Prince of Wales, who wedded, in 1717, the Lady Elizabeth Diana Capel, eldest daughter of Algernon, 2nd Earl of Essex; but dying without issue, the estates reverted to his uncle,
THOMAS MOLYNEUX (1661-1733), Lieutenant-General, Physician-General to the Army in Ireland, who was created a baronet in 1730, designated of Castle Dillon, County Armagh.
The Molyneux Family (1758), Photo Credit: The Ulster Museum
The interior is no less austere: a large hall with a screen of columns dividing it from a central corridor which ran the whole length of the House, with a curved stair at one end.
There are splendid 18th century pedimented stables by Thomas Cooley.
The entrance gates, dating from 1760, once described as“the most costly park gates perhaps at that time in the three kingdoms”, were erected by Sir Capel Molyneux, 3rd Baronet.
Sir Capel also erected an obelisk near the Park in order to commemorate the winning of independence by the Irish Parliament in 1782.
The sizeable walled demesne lies in pleasantly undulating countryside, with a lake at its centre. An anonymous guide wrote in 1839 that,
‘… the demesne is laid out in a style of elegance, rarely imitated in this country, and which would do honour to the best taste. Here every natural advantage of hill, wood and water, appears admirably improved by the correctest aid of art …’
It is laid out as a mid-18th century landscape park, though there is little remaining planting, with some woodland at the lake and very few parkland trees.
The Molyneux baronets, at one stage, owned 6,009 acres in County Armagh, 2,226 in County Kildare, 1,378 in County Limerick, 6,726 in the Queen’s County, and 221 acres in County Dublin.
The site has been forested and intensively farmed in recent years.
The first house was built ca 1611 and, when that was burnt in 1663, another followed.
The stable block of 1782 by Thomas Cooley is derelict.
The walled garden has gone but two gate lodges survive, one possibly by Sir William Chambers and an eye-catching obelisk erected in 1782, still impresses outside the demesne walls.
The baronetcy became extinct when the 10th Baronet, Sir Ernest, died in 1940.
The contents of Castle Dillon House were sold in October, 1923, and the Scottish firm, McAnish & Company, bought the whole estate in 1927 for the timber.
Armagh County Council purchased the house and the remaining 613 acres from McAnish for £9,800 in 1929 – £527,000 in today’s money.
In 1948, the Northern Ireland Hospital Authority managed the mansion house, and it served for various purposes, including a nursing home, since then.
CASTLE DILLON, County Armagh (AP ARMAGH, BANBRIDGE and CRAIGAVON 03) A/010 REGISTERED GRADE B The sizeable walled demesne (635 acres/257ha) lies in pleasantly undulating countryside, with a large natural lake (53 acres/21.4ha) at its centre. An anonymous guide wrote in 1839 that, ‘… the demesne is laid out in a style of elegance, rarely imitated in this country, and which would do honour to the best taste. Here every natural advantage of hill, wood and water, appears admirably improved by the correctest aid of art …’. The origin of the demesne lies in the early 17th century when in 1618 John Dillon ‘begun to build some three years since’ a house at Mullaghbane (Castle Dillon) ‘of brick and lymme and a very fair building’, but no bawn on the north-east side of Lough Turcarra. Remodelled, apparently as a ‘long low building’ by the Chief Engineer of Ireland, Captain Samuel Molyneux (‘Honest Sam’, died 1692) after he bought the property in 1663-64. It was given some form of associated planned landscape in the early 18th century by his grandson, Samuel Molyneux M.P. (1688-1728), Lord of Admiralty and noted commentator on architecture and gardening. He is known to have added plantations to the demesne and built ‘two little turrets or summer houses…advantageously situated for a view of
Register of Parks, Gardens and Demesnes of Special Historic Interest (NI) – November 2020 the lough and plantation about it’; some of the network of geometrically laid-out paths are shown on 1723 demesne map. However, the Molyneuxs spent most of their time away from their estate until 1759 when Castle Dillon was inherited by Sir Capel Molyneux, third baronet (1717-1797), son of the well known amateur botanist, St Thomas Molyneux, 1st Baronet (1661-1733). He rebuilt the family house in a rustic Palladian style with gabled wings (as depicted in a painting of 1784), which was unflatteringly described by the Post Chaise Companion in 1786 as ‘the most agreeable [seat] in the Kingdom’ were it not for the house itelf; immediately to its east, the stable block, designed by the architect Thomas Cooley before 1782 was architecturally more successful and still survives though ruined (HB 15/03/010). Sir Capel’s biggest impact on Castle Dillon however was the landscape park, which he started in the 1760s and was considered successful, perhaps because the place had ‘every natural advantage of hill, wood and water’. He walled the demesne parkland (635 acres/257ha), cleared field boundaries to created large open lawns or meadows, each dotted with trees and clumps; he enlarged the large woodland block south-east of the lake (originally 110 acres/45ha), and created two small woodland blocks (each c.5acres/2ha) bordering the lake to the west of the house. Except for parts of the northern boundary, he surprisingly did not put down perimeter planting tree belts; these were not planted until after 1841. As a political statement in the Whig tradition, commemorating the patriotic ideas of the era, Sir Capel erected two obelisks; of these only one survives, that on Cannon Hill, (now in State Care) built in 1782 outside the park, 0.7 miles (1.1km) north-east of the house. As part of the network of carriage drives in the new park, there were originally four gate lodges and of these the earliest and principal was that from the Ballybrannon Road on the north-west side of the demesne. Built probably in the 1760s in ‘monumental Palladian style’ this comprises a pair of square ‘box-type’ limestone rock-faced rusticated lodges with distinctive harmonising gate piers; traditionally this is supposed to have been the work of Sir William Chambers, though this is unlikely, these lodges are considered among the earliest examples in Ulster (HB 15/03/001); the ‘Hockley Lodge’ was added around 1780 to designs of Cooley (demolished in 1999). The walled garden, which no longer exists save for some fragments on the south-east side, occupied a very large trapezoidal area of 6 acres (2.4ha) in the north-east corner of the demesne. A stream (which will exists) ran through the garden; in later years the area east of this stream was devoted to apple trees. In the 1840s after the property had been inherited by Sir George King Aldercron Molyneux, 6th Bt (1813-1848), the park was improved with additional perimeter, clump and isolated tree planting, during which time (1844-45) the house itself was rebuilt in austere Classical-style (Listed HB 15/03/001) to designs of the architect William Murray of Dublin. The house ceased to be occupied in 1897 and having laid vacant was sold in 1928, after which it was converted onto a sanatorium and later a nursing home, becoming vacant again in the 1990s. The park was subdivided into a number of different owners and suffered accordingly. The woodland south-east of the lake has been both reduced in area and replaced with commercial forestry; parkland trees and perimeter planting felled, and modern houses built in various locations throughout the park. SMR ARM 12:30 enclosure, 12:32 enclosure or ? tree ring, 12:62 enclosure or ? tree ring, 12:67 enclosure and 12:85 17th century bawn and rath. Private.
Aclare Lodge 
Irish Historic Houses 